Here’s the scoop on the award, its namesake, and the American cowboy who was tops this year at all the skills that settled the American West:
• Award namesake Bill “The King” Linderman was a Hall-of-Famer who, in 1950, became the first cowboy to win world championships in three different rodeo events.
• Linderman was retired and serving his 14th year on the board of pro rodeo’s governing body, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, when he died in a 1965 plane crash.
• Founded in 1966, the Linderman Award is annually presented to the winningest cowboy who earns at least $1,000 in each of three events, including a roughstock and a timed event.
• This year’s winner, 28-year-old Trell Etbauer, is in his sixth year as a pro and hails from Goodwell, Okla., where he was an all-state high school football player.
• At 6’1” and 190 pounds, Etbauer sports the chiseled jaw and broad smile of a Hollywood Western star.
• Etbauer was born to be a bronc tamer. His dad is two-time world champion Robert Etbauer and his two uncles are five-time world champ Billy Etbauer and 10-time NFR qualifier Dan Etbauer.
• This season, Etbauer earned $41,684 in saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, and tie-down roping.
• Etbauer was the 2005 national collegiate champion steer wrestler while at Panhandle State University.
• In 2008, Etbauer became the first cowboy to win the Linderman so early in his career. Former winners include Hall-of-Fame cowboys Phil Lyne and Lewis Field.
• This marks the fourth win for Etbauer, who also won the Linderman in 2008–10.